Traitors Cove Bear Viewing

Overview

Island Wings Air Service is owned and operated by Alaska veteran pilot Michelle Masden, who started flying in 1977 and began her business in Ketchikan in 1993. Island Wings takes the time and makes the effort to help you realize your Alaskan dreams. Share our love of flying through our vast Alaskan wilderness. Experience the freedom of flight over the wild grandeur of the mountains, the islands and the endless sea. In business since 1993, Island Wings takes the time and makes the effort to help you realize your Alaskan dreams. Our focus is the quality of your experience. From the handling of your reservation, to the equipment we operate, to the places we visit; we don't compromise and neither should you. The total time for this tour is 4.25 hours including: the flight, three hours onsite at Traitors Cove Bear Viewing Observatory, and fifteen minutes for the pick-up and drop-off.

City: Ketchikan

Sun 27 Apr

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $525.00

Make a reservation

Sun 27 Apr

Starting at $525.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

We operate well maintained six-passenger DeHavilland Beaver floatplanes

Guaranteed window seats for all passengers

Voice activated, noise cancelling headset for each passenger

Interactive narration with your Pilot

Pick-up and drop-off by Island WIngs van from the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau on Cruise Ship Berth 2

US Forest Service Special Use Permit for Bear Viewing within Tongss National Forest

All inclusive tour

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Please wear layered clothing and comfortable walking shoes.
All passengers MUST provide us a contact phone number when booking or call us at (907) 225-2444 to confirm a tour time.
Passengers travelling via cruise ship MUST provide their cruise ship name to us so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

What To Expect

Tongass National Forest

Between July20th and September 30th you can visit the bear viewing observatory at Traitors Cove. Fly by floatplane along the beautiful waterways of the lush Tongass National Forest across Revillagegedo island to a US Forest Service maintained trail and the Margarete Creek Bear Viewing platform. Bears can be seen plunging into the rushing water to retrieve their meals of wiggling salmon. This is a perfect opportunity to photograph Alaska's real fisherman in action! In addition to bears feeding, you will also see bald eagles picking over the scraps left by the bears and of course, the real stars of the show, the salmon as they battle their way upstream to spawn. Your journey will be accompanied by the Island Wings bear guide who will provide information about the flora and fauna along the way. Combine a short hike, beautiful scenery and a magnificent wildlife experience in one trip. This is a four hour tour that includes a floatplane flight, a one mile drive by van on a US Forest Service road and a short hike along a boardwalk trail to the viewing platform. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring plenty of camera batteries! The US Forest Service restricts access to Margarete Observatory by permit. As a result, only small numbers of people have the opportunity to visit this beautiful site, so book early! The four hour Traitors Cove bear viewing tour includes: a thirty minute flight each way and three hours at Traitors Cove. All tours include complimentary ground transportation to and from our dock which adds fifteen minutes to the beginning and the end of your tour. For this four hour tour you will need to budget four and a half hours total time. Season: July 20th through September 30th.

Cancellation Policy

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (38)

A4854GElaurenb

Aug 2024

I’m here to be skunk at the garden party. Every reviews says there will be bears on bears on bears and that’s why I booked. This excursion was pretty expensive but we were hyped to see bears. We got there and…ZERO bears. The guide knew, said there hasn’t been bears in days. We still spent a really boring 90 minutes at the viewing station doing absolutely nothing. I don’t blame the tour company because obv they can’t guarantee bears but just be warned that there could be zero bears and this excursion can totally suck.

Cxs618

Aug 2024

We were on an Alaskan cruise and decided to book a tour outside of the CruiseLine excursions list with Island Wings based on the reviews on Trip Advisor. The reviews are spot on Island Wings was incredible, their communication, easy of booking, staff, pick up/drop off and the entire experience was EPIC. We were a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids 9,11,14). I was a little nervous about a float plane, never having been on one, but within minutes of getting up in the air, our jaws dropped. Michelle, the pilot, was extremely kind and reassured us we would love it...and boy was she right!!! The scenery, pilot, take off and landing, were smoother than most commercial flights I've been on. In addition, the view out of the float plane was something you couldn't even dream of on your own. The water, mountains, and greenery of the trees, simply spectacular. We were blown away by traitors cove. It wasn't crowded and we saw so many groups come and go with other excursion tours. We were beyond thrilled that our tour, through Island Wings, had you bear watching for 2 hours. The time flew by, we loved every moment, so many bears and even momma's with cubs. We are hooked!!!! Our tour guide at Traitor's cover was so knowledgeable about the bears and made sure we knew when and where to look. EPIC Experience! We all agree this was the best excursion we have ever been on. We are looking forward go heading back to Ketchikan for a few more days in the future and will definitely schedule another trip with Island Wings. Next time we may do both the bear tour and the trip to Misty Fjords. This experience was that good!! Thank you Island Wings.

Davidjm2389

Aug 2024

Excellent seaplane and bear viewing tour. Adam pilot and Jake guide were excellent. Very professional tour in all respects. Saw bears catching and eating salmon. Highly recommend